﻿Wellington PhilosopJiiccd Society. 367 



tralia and ISTew Zealand, while topographically there is great contrast. The 

 flora and tlie fauna ai-e, upon the whole, essentially dilFerent." 



Dr. Hector in remarking on Mr. Crawford's paper, mentioned the recently 

 discovered diamond bearing deposits in the Mudgee Eiver in New South 

 Wales. The diamonds are found in abandoned gold workings, and must have 

 been i-epeatedly overlooked by the diggers. Their immediate source is from a 

 bed of conglomerate or cemented drift, small areas of wliich have been preserved 

 by cappings of basaltic lava. According to Dr. Thomson, who had recently 

 published an interesting paper on tlie subject, about 2,500 diamonds were 

 obtained in the first five months of systematic working, and many thousands 

 have since been collected. He recommended the study of Dr. Thomson's 

 account to explorers for minerals in New Zealand, and especially in the 

 north-west districts of the province of Nelson. 



Mr. Hood remarked that one river only on the eastern slopes of the Aus- 

 tralian Alps — ^the Clarence — contains the Murray Cod in abundance. He had 

 noticed high pillars of basalt standing out in the central plains of Australia. 

 He also stated that the Saurian remains from Australia bore considerable 

 resemblance to those from New Zealand, but that the former were smaller. 



2. A letter from Mr. Duigan, of Wanganui, called attention to the great 

 disturbance of the electric telegraph system of the colony, which was expe- 

 rienced on the 13th February last, at the same time the s.s. 'Airedale' was 

 lost. He attributed it to the same influence as that which gives rise to the 

 auroral displays, and suggested that this disturbance may have caused an 

 irregularity in the deviation of the 'Airedale's' compasses. 



Dr. Hector remarked that it was quite recognised that the magnetic needle 

 was affected during auroral displays, but not to the extent of seriously affecting 

 a ship's compass. He had been attached to an expedition in 1858, during 

 which it was his duty to assist in watching the deviation of the magnetic 

 needle during perhaps the most brilliant auroral displays on record, and under 

 these circumstances, and while using remarkably sensitive instruments, the 

 actual deviation was very slight. The disturbance of the telegraph, on 

 the other hand, is a very important and interesting feature, and, as the 

 subject is attracting much attention, he thought the author deserved the 

 thanks of the Society for having placed the fact on record. 



The President thoiight it would be advantageous if Government would 

 cause a systematic recoixl to be published of such disturbances of the tele- 

 graphic instruments, which, he had been informed, were unusually frequent 

 throughout New Zealand. 



3. " Notes on St. John's Nursery Garden, Wanganui," communicated by 

 R. Pharazyn, F.R.G.S. The paper contains an account of the nursery, with 

 statistics by the proprietor, showing the rate of growth of introduced trees. 



